[ST. PAUL, MN] – The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending three candidates for consideration to fill the vacancies in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District. One vacancy occurred upon the elevation of the Honorable Anne M. Rasmusson to the Court of Appeals, and the other will occur later this year upon the retirement of the Honorable Jeffrey S. Remick. These seats will be chambered in Warren in Marshall County and Crookston in Polk County. 

Max Schafer-LaCoursiere: Max Schafer-LaCoursiere is an assistant public defender in the Ninth District Public Defender’s Office in Thief River Falls, where he represents clients throughout Northwestern Minnesota. He previously served as an assistant county attorney in the Pennington County Attorney’s Office and as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Tamara L. Yon in the Ninth Judicial District. Schafer-LaCoursiere is president of the Oxbow Foundation. He also volunteers with the Association of the French of the North and serves on the University of Minnesota Extension Committee for Red Lake County. 

Symon Schindler-Syme: Symon Schindler-Syme is an assistant county attorney in the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office, where he handles criminal and appellate cases. He was previously an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District. Schindler-Syme’s community involvement includes volunteering with the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch, the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association Criminal Law Committee, the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society, and Bemidji Great River Rescue. 

Eliza Scott: Eliza Scott is an assistant county attorney in the Roseau County Attorney’s Office, where she focuses on felony and gross misdemeanor criminal prosecution and civil commitment matters. She previously served as an assistant county attorney in Beltrami County and a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Donna K. Dixon in the Ninth Judicial District. Scott is a member of the Roseau County Drug and DWI Court Treatment Team, the Domestic Violence Coordinated Community Response Team, and Roseau County’s Community Justice Coordinating Committee. She is also a member of the Criminal Law and Civil Commitment committees of the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association, the Roseau Women of Today, and the Minnesota Cattlewomen’s Association.

For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.